Abstract

Self-induced birefringence effects in a periodically modulated nonlinear medium are investigated. An input beam linearly polarized along the axis of a fiber polarization-rocking filter undergoes a spatial instability as the input power crosses a threshold value that scales linearly with the coupling strength. We describe the potential use of this effect for relatively low-power intensity discrimination, all-optical polarization switching, and small-signal amplification using linearly polarized beams. The wavelength for maximum polarization conversion between the axes can be tuned by varying the input power, and the filter bandwidth narrows with increasing power.

© 1987 Optical Society of America

Stochastic polarization instability: limitation to optical switching using fibers with modulated birefringence

E. Caglioti, S. Trillo, and S. Wabnitz
Opt. Lett. 12(12) 1044-1046 (1987)

Intensity discrimination with twisted birefringent optical fibers

Herbert G. Winful and Andong Hu
Opt. Lett. 11(10) 668-670 (1986)

Polarization instability in a twisted birefringent optical fiber

Sandra F. Feldman, Doreen A. Weinberger, and Herbert G. Winful
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 10(7) 1191-1201 (1993)

Switching dynamics of helical solitons in a periodically twisted birefringent fiber filter

A. B. Aceves and S. Wabnitz
Opt. Lett. 17(1) 25-27 (1992)

Polarization instabilities for solitons in birefringent fibers

K. J. Blow, N. J. Doran, and David Wood
Opt. Lett. 12(3) 202-204 (1987)